THE BULB GARDENS OF HOLLAND. 97 



ing station in New England. Passing along towards the snbnrHs 

 we note everywhere the beautiful deep green color of the grass 

 and foliage. Roses, pansies, geraniums, and 3'ellow herbaceous 

 calceolarias are seen in perfection of color in gardens, many of 

 which are kept splendidl}'. Among vegetables we particularly 

 note the excellence of the crop of cauliflowers. It is a sure crop 

 in Holland ; the cool, moist climate and a soil which is always 

 moist, but rarely or never too wet, seems to suit it exactly. The 

 tools used by gardeners and farmers are ver^' clumsy and heavy. 

 A Dutch spade will weigh as much again as an American spade, 

 and so with other tools. We observed some workmen taking out 

 the foundation for a new building ; they were working eight or 

 nine feet below the level of the canal which flowed in the middle 

 of the street, and constant pumping into the canal was necessary 

 to get rid of the water. The pump in use attracted our attention. 

 It consisted of a log of wood sixteen or eighteen feet long and 

 ten inches in diameter ; a hole in the centre about four inches wide 

 extended from end to end and was fitted with a spiral lift. The 

 lower end of the log reached down into the water, and four men 

 kept laboriously turning the great clumsy thing hour after hour 

 by handles near the end which reached into the canal. -In this way 

 about as much water was scooped up into the canal in half an 

 hour by the four men, as one man with an American bucket 

 pump, could discharge in fifteen minutes. 



But Haarlem and its bulb gardens interest us chiefly at present, 

 so we leave the city with its quaint old buildings and many 

 belled church spires. The road over which we are driven is 

 paved throughout with dressed stones. The ever present canal 

 runs alongside, wide enough for large boats to pass on their way 

 to and from town. One of these passes every now and then laden 

 with country produce, and is pulled along by a horse walking on 

 the roadway. Occasionally the owner or his wife does the pull- 

 ing, as for instance at feeding time, when the horse passes on to 

 the boat and enjoys his hay and a sail at the same time. 



Wherever we look the landscape has the same level appear- 

 ance, and the soil is loose, sandy, and fine. We pass windmill 

 after windmill, each with four huge sails, often measuring fifty 

 feet from end to end. These mills are used for a variety of pur- 

 poses, such as grinding grain, sawing timber, etc., but chiefly for 

 pumping water from the small ditches which drain the fields into 

 7 



